Baltimore police officer charged with pimping wife

Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

A31-year-old Baltimore Police officer was charged Friday with pimping out his wife after officers from a human trafficking task force found him outside a hotel room where the woman had agreed to have sex for cash with an undercover officer.

The child recovery task force was working a proactive investigation into human trafficking when they came across a "young-looking female" advertised as an escort on a website, police said. Officers arranged to meet the female at a hotel near BWI airport, court records show.

Inside the hotel room, a woman identified by police as Marissa Braun-Manneh told an undercover officer that she would have sex for $100, and she was placed under arrest, charging documents show.

She said that her husband, Lamin Manneh, was waiting outside in a car, and that she gives him her money and he drives her from "date-to-date," according to court records. She also said that he posts the online ads using his credit card. Police said Manneh acknowledged his role in an interview with detectives, records show.

Elena Russo, a state police spokeswoman, said both husband and wife were charged because they appeared to be "working as a team."

Manneh, of the 2400 block of Marbourne Ave. in Baltimore, is an officer assigned to the Baltimore Police Department's Eastern District. State police said he was suspended without pay and that the city police internal affairs would investigate.

"This allegation is a disgrace and embarrassment to every member -- both current and retired -- who serve with the Baltimore Police Department," Baltimore's Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said in a statement. "We expect every member of this department to hold themselves to the highest professional standards. Our colleagues and our community deserve nothing less."

Manneh was charged in Anne Arundel County District Court with one count each of human trafficking and prostitution, and was released on his own recognizance by a District Court commissioner, records show. Braun was charged with one count of prostitution and also released on her own recognizance.